UK house prices remain strong

The latest UK House Price Index from the Office of National Statistics and Land Registry has revealed that, across the UK, the average price of a home has have increased by 6.2% in the year to January 2017, up from 5.7% in the year to December 2016.

The average UK house price was £218,000 in January 2017. This is £13,000 higher than in January 2016 and £1,000 higher than last month. However, the January figure remains below the average annual house price growth seen in 2016 of 7.4%.

The main contribution to the increase in UK house prices came from England, where house prices increased by 6.5% over the year to January 2017, with the average price in England now £235,000. Wales saw house prices increase by 4.2% over the last 12 months to stand at £146,000. In Scotland, the average price increased by 4.0% over the year to stand at £142,000. The average price in Northern Ireland currently stands at £125,000, an increase of 5.7% over the last 12 months.

The East of England is the region which showed the highest annual growth, with prices increasing by 9.4% in the year to January 2017. Growth in the South East was second highest at 8.7%, followed by London at 7.3%. The lowest annual growth was in the North East, where prices increased by 2.2% over the year.